77-Year-Old Falun Gong Practitioner Arrested and Harassed for Her Faith

September 02, 2017 | By a Minghui correspondent in Sichuan Province, China

(Minghui.org) A 77-year-old Falun Gong practitioner in Deyang, Sichuan Province was recently arrested and detained at a police station for more than seven hours. Officers continued to harass her after she was released.

Ms. Yang Guangmei was waiting for a bus when a police officer approached her on August 19, 2017. The officer searched her bag and found a pendant with the words “Falun Dafa is Good” and “Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance is good.” They accused her of promoting Falun Gong and took her to the police station.

The police attempted to take her bag by force. When she resisted, an officer sprained her left arm and right elbow. The watch she was wearing was also broken.

The police pushed her into an interrogation chair and began to ask her questions. Instead of answering them, Ms. Yang tried to persuade them not to participate in the persecution and told them that practicing Falun Gong was protected under freedom of belief and does not violate any laws in China.

While Ms. Yang talked to the officers, others found her ID and obtained her address. They knocked on her door, but Ms. Yang's daughter, Luo Ying, did not open the door.

Ms. Yang was released at around 1:00 am. The police returned the 170 yuan in cash confiscated from her that had Falun Gong-related messages printed on them.

On August 20, the police returned and knocked on her door again. Ms. Yang didn't open the door.

In the following few days, from August 22 to 24, the police frequently came to her home. Ms. Yang and her daughter Luo Ying insisted that they wouldn't open the door for the police but still tried to persuade them not to take part in the persecution.